


Running out of time

by RightHandWoman



Category: Holby City
Genre: Arthur's cancer does get mentioned, Bit of Fluff, But very liberal with the Holby city time line, Gen, Not A Fix-It, Running, bit of angst, bit of happy funny things
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-14
Updated: 2016-06-15
Packaged: 2018-07-15 01:23:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7199738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RightHandWoman/pseuds/RightHandWoman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Arthur gets the news of his secondaries, he decides that he still has so many things to do and one of those things is run a half marathon for a good cause.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> unbeta'd so please notify me if you see any mistakes and if you enjoyed, leave a kudo and/or a comment!

“You’re absolutely mad! Arthur, you’ve never ran a mile in your life and now you want to run a half marathon?” Dominic said with a frown, standing in front of his friend, his arms crossed.

“I've got to do this, I want to be able to say that I ran half a marathon before I..." The unspoken word hung heavy in the air between the two men. Had Arthur said this weeks or months ago, neither would've flinched at the word "Die". They were doctors, they saw people die on a regular basis. But now it was about Arthur and it became a lot harder to speak that three letter word because of his cancer and the risk of the chemo not being effective.

Arthur took a deep breath to regain himself and continued.

“I’ve got Raf to train me and it’s for a good cause.”

Dom snorted, “Let me guess, the historical society for the upkeep of important battlefields?”

“How incredibly amazing it would be if that charity actually did exist, I actually wanted to do a sponsored run for Cancer Research UK.” 

Dom couldn’t help but smile at that, the selfless man, ready to go through months of rigorous training and a little suffering so others in the future might have a better chance at survival than him. 

“Rather you than me,” he said, not a trace of sarcasm or spite in his voice. He might think it was a rather bad idea, but if Arthur needed to do this he’d be supportive of him.

~

Raf was stretching in the car park near the running trail he would use to train Arthur, waiting for him to arrive so they could start their first running lesson. He watched Dominic park his car and almost laughed when he saw Arthur come out wearing old, worn out trainers which would barely give his feet any form of support and a thick grey training suit more suited for a freezing winter night on the couch than exercising on a beautiful spring morning.

“What’s so funny?” Arthur asked confusedly, looking at himself and then right back at Raf.

“Nothin’, but if you want to run any significant distances, I would recommend investing in a pair of running shoes, if you want to prevent injuries. Oh, and some clothes made out of a breathing fabric, rather than heavy cotton. You’ll notice that you’ll start to heat up tremendously once you’re going. It’ll make running a lot easier and a lot more fun.” Raf grinned.

“I’ll get you geared out next week, but for now this’ll do. I picked an easy beginners trail and we’re just going to start slowly. We’re going to run two minutes, then walk for one, then run for two and so on for half an hour today.”

Arthur nodded, showing Raf he understood the instructions. “Got it, shall we start now?”

“Oh! You’re eager, I like that. Follow me but run at your own pace, don’t tire yourself out just yet.” Raf ran onto the trail, running a bit slower than he usually would so Arthur could keep up with him. After two minutes, which to Arthur seemed to last longer than two minutes, they slowed to a walk.

“How does it feel?”

“I’m slightly breathless, but I’m fine.” Arthur answered, taking a deep breath. Raf nodded, warned him the minute was almost up and they started running again.

By the end, Arthur was gasping for air. His legs were hurting and his suit, though starting light grey, now had dark grey spots pretty much everywhere you could sweat (and a few places he didn’t even know it was one hundred percent possible) and strands of his black hair were glued to his burning red forehead. He felt like he just had been hit by a ten ton truck. And that while Raf looked like he could do this a few times more.

“Don’t worry, Arthur, It’s going to get better if you train more. I’m going to give you homework though, go to a running shop and get some proper running gear. Don’t do it by yourself, ask someone for help.”

Arthur couldn't even speak, he simply gave Raf a thumbs up and collapsed on the ground. “Arthur?” Raf asked worriedly, running over to him. “Arthur, answer me, are you all right?” He asked, gently shaking Arthur by his shoulders. “I’m… fine…” came the weak reply. “My leeegs!” he then proceeded to whine, much to Raf’s exasperation. “I can’t stand up, I’m dying!” Raf shook his head and helped Arthur up. “It’ll get better, you've just gotta keep training. You’re not going to quit.” He dragged him along back to the car park where Dom was waiting to pick Arthur up.

This time it was Dominic’s turn to laugh. Arthur simply groaned. “What is so funny about me?”

“You look you’ve been hit by a truck.”

“Feel like it too…”

“Aww, did Raf push you too hard?”

Arthur just sent a poignant glare Dominic’s way. “Shut up and help me into the car.” Dominic rolled his eyes fondly and helped his friend into the car, worrying more about not touching his sweat stains than actually being of any help.

Dominic turned the ignition and looked at his friend who was breathing heavily next to him. “Are you all right though? You want to go through with this?” 

He faced Dom. “I’m fine, I’m going to do this.”

“I’m not going to haul your sweaty body into the car again though…”  
~

The moment they arrived back at their flat, Dominic immediately stopped Arthur from crashing on the couch. “You’re going to take a shower right now! It’s bad enough you got your sweat stains all over the car, that’s your responsibility to clean, but you’re not going to sit down on the couch because I’m not having your sweat stains contaminate it!” Arthur groaned loudly but stopped himself from crashing on the couched and moved to the bathroom.

“And use your own shower gel!” Dom called to him, a fond smile decorated his face when he saw Arthur casually flip him off. Arthur was going to be fine, Dominic was more sure of that than he was of anything else in his life right now.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur and Morven go shopping for running gear

“Your friend is right, Mr Digby. Old trainers aren’t the right running shoes.” The shop assistant told Arthur who sat on the opposite side of the table with Morven. She had been so kind to join him, it could be a couples thing. “You’re planning to run a half marathon right?” Arthur nodded in response.

“If you keep training in old trainers, you’ll have a higher chance of contracting a sports injury and then you’ll most likely be out for a few weeks to a few months at least. I’m going to grab you a few pairs of running shoes, then you two can pick out the ones you like best.” The shop assistant stood up and left the two alone.

“Thank you for doing this with me Morven, I can really use the support during my runs.” Arthur smiled at his fiancée and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Bit of PDA never hurt anyone. “I think this is brilliant, my selfless Arthur. I’m really proud of you for doing this.” Morven, rested her head on his shoulders. “Just be careful, I don’t want you to overdo it and get hurt.”

“Morven, I’m really not that fragile.” This was followed by an aggressive and rather painful cough. Worrying about the cough, Morven looked up hastily. “Arthur?”

“I’m fine. I promise, I’m fine.”

 

Morven simply placed a hand on his chest. She told herself he was going to be fine, she just wished her mind didn’t doubt it. Maybe her dad could look into alternative treatments for Arthur as a wedding gift. Not that she didn’t trust the doctors at Holby

“So, I’ve found three pair of running shoes within your price range and I found another two pair for your beautiful woman-” Morven smiled bashfully when the shop assistant said that- “so take your pick. Put them on, walk and run for a bit and pick the pair that’s the most comfortable, not the pair that looks the best.” The shop assistant placed three pair in front of Arthur. A pair of black running shoes with a stripe of silver, a boisterous orange pair that almost hurt your eyes if you looked directly at them and a pair the very same colour as his Keller scrubs. 

“I like the wine red ones,” Morven said to Arthur, holding his hand. Arthur silently agreed but decided to try the others on first before choosing the most comfortable pair. The black pair were a tad bit small and though fine for short periods of time, he wouldn't be able to run 21K in them. The orange ones, despite their absolutely horrid appearance, were actually rather comfortable, but it were the Keller scrubs coloured shoes that took the cake. It was probably expected, but the moment Arthur stepped into them it was as if he was standing, then walking and then running on clouds, but clouds that actually gave him enough support.

Arthur sat down again, smiling brightly. “I think these are the best fit.” He took off the shoes and put his own on again. “Yeah, I’ll take these.” The shop assistant nodded, put the shoes back in the box and brought them to checkout in advanced. Meanwhile Arthur helped Morven decide which pair she liked most. “I don’t know. The purple ones are more comfortable, the sole seems to give more support but I feel like the yellow pair breath more and looks better on me. What do you think Arthur?”

“Well, even though I love those yellow running shoes, they look really good on you on you. If the purple ones are more comfortable, I think you should pick those. Then again, you’re not on a rigorous training schedule.” Arthur shrugged. Morven took one good look at the two pairs but eventually decided on the purple pair. The shop assistant brought those to checkout as well.

Arthur went through the racks in the men’s section of the shop eventually settling on a pair of simple black running shorts, advertised for their ability to neutralise the scent of perspiration and a dark blue t-shirt advertised for exactly the same ability… that really seemed to be the theme for these kinds of garments. Morven took a little longer.

She looked at herself in the mirror, wearing a pair of form fitting black shorts that accentuated her strong legs and a bright yellow shirt. She didn’t even register that Arthur had entered her dressing room until he grabbed her by the waist and pressed a hot kiss to her smooth neck. “You look absolutely gorgeous in bright colours.” he hummed. Morven simply smiled.  
“I know.” She turned around and pressed a long and loving kiss to his lips, only pulling back when Arthur was gasping for a breath of fresh air. “I think I prefer the lavender shirt over the yellow one though. Give me a moment to change.” Morven pushed Arthur out of the small space and put on the lavender shirt. A few moments later the emerged from the dressing room and showed it to her fiancé. “I agree, lavender looks much better.” Arthur nodded.

Morven changed back into her everyday clothes and handed Arthur her final decision. They both paid and left the shop, plastic carrier bags in hand. “So, I was thinking, let’s go back to my place, I’ll make you a lovely dinner and afterwards we can…” Arthur leaned in closer and whispered the following part in Morven’s ear, her grin widening with every single word he spoke. “Hmm, that’s a very good idea, Dr Digby… but if I may make one suggestion-” she leaned up a little- “I’d rather do dinner last,” she whispered.

~ 

The two arrived at the flat just as Dominic was about to leave for a night on the town. When he saw Arthur and Morven giggling and immediately heading to the bedroom without even saying ‘Hi Dominic’ he feared the worst… 

“Zosia, you can still change your mind!”

Zosia ran up to Dominic, quickly grabbing her coat and putting it on. “Way ahead of you, Dom.”


End file.
